A Great Lift
by Subject24
Summary: Kinda been in me for awhile to make a story like this. I love eureka seven, and one of the best things i love about eureka seven is Lifting. The concept of riding invisible energy waves, on a board that captures them and turns it into ride-able substance.. its just to good. Sometimes i pretend when im skating out late at night, that im lifting :3 lol.. so here's a story about it
1. Chapter 1

Eureka Seven - A great Lift

Disclaimer - I Do not Own Eureka Seven or Eureka Seven AO(Made by Bones Studio/Licensed by Funimation). I do not own any of the un-original Characters, Things, or Concepts in this story.

Also, most of this story is my own so i really don't even know if this is necessary. Still,.. Dont sue me!

Part 1

If x is thirty-two, and you divide it by 4, then that should mean that Y is eight. Dan looked over the worksheet once again just to make sure he got everything right. He wasn't sure about some of the equations he did but he was sure of the two hours he spent completing them. He drew in a deep breath, held it for a second, and sighed. His mom said it was a technique used for yoga, but dan found it more helpful with arithmetic. His mind was so worn through that he almost wanted to start chanting like a monk would in some stone mountain temple, but he had no time for that. Glancing at the clock, he realized he was almost twenty minutes late.

The adrenaline instantly kicked in, gathering his board jacket, goggles, and his ref board he flew out his door and half slipped half stepped down the stairs.

Dan grabbed his magnetized boarding shoes, zipping up the first layer clamping down the second. His little brother and his runt friends were playing some new first person shooter that had just come out in the living room. They were shouting and cursing at each other like they'd always had. Every now and then you would hear a "i shot you first!" or the "stop looking on my screen you cheater". Different game, same runts.

"Danny, ham sandwiches and corn chips for lunch!" his mom called from the kitchen.

"Ahhh, no thanks mom, i'm still full from breakfast"

"Oh, okay. Well where are you going?"

"Down to the golden edge to meet jonathan and cindy, i'll be back before midnight"

"Oookeey, but don't get into any trouble, and remember to stay on the sections your dad recommended for you."

"Sure thing Mom"

And in the next moment, Dan was out the door and out to the walking trail the lead to "the golden edge", the central spot for lifters, and everything to do with lifting. Dan, and all his friends used the spot as a hangout zone, whether they were skating or not. They had been deemed by the local elderly as the trapar punks, responsible for all sorts of petty crimes around town, and were treated as juvenile delinquents and vandals. There might have been some truth to this. There were some older kids that would often start trouble. Small things such as fighting, graffiti, and petty theft. Dan actually lived down the street from their unofficial ringleader, Greyson,

and had known him for as long as could remember. Greyson was always the obnoxious boy with a temper problem, and through the years he had sharpened his attitude problems to the point that other bullies were drawn to his maleficent aurora. Greyson had never once bothered

Dan though. Not because Greyson liked Dan, Greyson hated Dan, about as much as he hated all kids younger than him. It was really Dan's father that spared him.

Jason Armoney, Dan's dad, had been rifting all his life and was a legend around the lifting community. He won the lifting games 4 different times. In 2065 he won with a signature move he claimed to have made up on the spot. It was later named the "Armoney gist", Jason claiming that you had to get the gist of a great lift to pull the move off, referencing to the spirit of lifting. The quote as well as the move became famous. For 9 years he lived lavishly before he met his wife, Madeline at a contest in Austin, Texas, and decided to settle down and make a family.

***construction!#€÷€ history drop on jason Armoney!***

Dan's personal group only consisted of himself and his best friends Jonathan, cindy, and occasionally Micha(who liked to flow in and out of all the social circles). Dan could say with the best of his honesty that his group hadn't done anything. They hadn't won any contests, they weren't the best, and weren't the most popular. But their group was about as tight as any group gets.

He rounded the corner and could see jonathan standing on the side of the store hands in his pockets, head bobbing to headphones he never took off. Dan strolled up too Jon gave him a punch on the arm. Jon looked surprised for a second and then realized that it was him. They gave each other the Jon and Dan secret handbump, two fists with a twist and then stared ahead at the parking lot on the side of the building.

"Have you heard from Cindy?" Dan asked Jon, watching an older couple get out of their car arguing about something in a mild manner.

"Yeh, she's inside the store" Jon responded, "She said she hadn't eaten all day so she wanted to grub out before we left"

Dan jerked his head around to Jon, wide eyed mouth open in a gasping position

"She's gonna pig out before we lift?!"

Jon wore a bored, eyes half closed expression

"Yep"

"But we are right about to lift! Couldn't she do that later?"

"Nope, She said she had to eat"

"But lifting after eating is dangerous! were supposed to be really breaking the bank today. We're gonna be out for hours!"

"Yep".

Dan sighed. Eating before lifting could be hazardous. Even little lifters knew that. But Cindy wasn't the type of girl to heed to any type of rule, even if it was common sense.

"she's really gonna get herself into trouble one day" Dan said looking worriedly at the corner of the store, hoping she would come out soon. Jon followed his gaze with an indifferent one of his own. "Eh, she'll be fine. Cindy is Cindy. If she didn't do stuff like this, we probably wouldn't

even be friends with her."

Jon had his ref board leaning up against the wall beside him, bottom facing out, sporting the bright logo of the popular ska-band "Jenettie Confetti". Jenettie Confetti was a common band for most youngsters their age, but especially lifters, the fast light choppy ska tones perfect for the wind-riding of lifting. The lead singer of the band, Jene, as well as the lead guitarist, and drummer were all lifters. Alot of their songs eluded to lifting, and one of their top songs was about lifting in the streets of Oakland, California. Standing there Dan could here the light guitar picks of Jammy Sammy coming through Jon's headphones, that were now sitting on his shoulders.

They stood there for awhile, listening to the music, watching people go to and from the store.

Turning to Dan, Jon smiled "Have you talked to Bethany? I heard you guys had a moment in the gym last week."

Dan smiled a sheepish grin making a swishing sound in soft nostalgia.

"Yeeaah, I was walking by her and her friends and she brushed my shoulder with hers" his grin got even wider. "And when I turned over to her she had this smile like" He made the swishing sound again.

"Man you should ask her out"

"Yeeaah I know. I want to. But I don't know if she likes guys like me. I mean she's a preppy girl and I'm just a random.. guy you know?"

"who you talkin about?"

Both the boys jumped a little, turning to see Cindy standing right beside them with a half eaten fried burrito in one hand and a giant bottle of Pepsi cola in the other. She stared at them with lame eyes, taking another sizeable bite of the burrito.

Dan laughed at the ridiculous size of the drink in Cindy's tiny hands

"We're talking about Dan getting hit on by Bethany" Jon said, Nudging Dan in the ribs playfully. Dan laughed and smiled in bliss.

Cindy slurped some of her drink.

"Your talkin about Bethany Tidywell?"

"yeah" Jon and Dan answered simultaneously.

Cindy laughed "Bethany Tidywell likes every guy that's half decent looking and older than her."

Jon looked up in thought, and Dan looked at cindy with a questioning look on his face.

"How would you know?"

Cindy scoffed. "Girls talk to each other a about everything. And Especially about each other. Kayla crawford personally talks my ear off every time we sit together in study hall. That girl gives me the dirt on everyone."

"Did she ever tell you that Bethany rifts?" Jon asked casually.

"What?" Dan and cindy asked simultaneously.

Jon pointed to a group of boys heading out the the lift park. In the middle of the pack, dressed in a girls boarding shorts and tee was the gossip topic herself, Bethany Tidywell. In her arms was a kilowatt 500, a high end board that was only just released a couple of months ago.

Both Dan and Cindy's blew up as they watch the kids turn the corner and walk out of site.


	2. Chapter 2

"That is freaking awesome!" Dan shouts, pulling his arm down in a *score!* fashion.

"She -she's in with the cheerleaders and fingernail polish brigade. Why the heck is she hanging out with a bunch of lifters?"

"She's obviously a lifter herself oh all knowing Cindy." Jon answered sarcastically "what else do you think she would be doing with a kilowatt 500?"

Cindy gave him a mocking dumb zombie face.

"She's smart, beautiful, cool, and she lifts!" Dan wore the expression of complete bliss. "Obviously she's the greatest girl in the world." He fell back onto the wall behind him and slowly slid down onto the ground, trying to take the full concept of Bethany lifting. His mind was already drifting back to pre-programmed daydreams of his life married to Bethany Tidywell.

He could see the sandy beach now. On some tropical island, palm trees swaying gently in the breeze, crystal clear water sparkling in the sunlight. They were on their honeymoon , and like so many times before, she was wearing that same bathing suit he saw her wear two summers ago. She looked so great. He could see them both running along the beach out towards the ocean, ref boards in hand, laughing like idiots. They ran just far enough to get their feet wet. And then jump on their boards, taking off into the air. Side by side, coasting off trapar, riding like like a pair of eagles weaving in and out of each other. He was so happy he thought his insides might burst.

And then cindy hit him on the head.

"Ouch, what what you do that for?"

"You were going into a coma from overdose of stupid. I just saved your life, you should thank me." She said matter of factly.

"Well you didn't have to hit me so hard" He said rubbing the spot where she hit him, glaring up at her.

Dan got up and looked around. The sun was still pretty high in in the sky. They had plenty of time to lift in the park before it got dark. "Are you guys ready to guy?"

Jon picked up his board. "I was ready an hour ago, at this point I'm antsy"

Cindy sported hers on her back with a special carrying sash she had gotten when she first started lifting. Which was ages ago, but cindy was still tiny so it worked. She slurped the last bit of her drink and tossed the rest into the trash can nearby.

"Ready" she said grasping her sash, pulling it into a better position.

"Let's go!" Dan said excitedly. His thoughts were dominated with the idea of Bethany lifting. He had to get to the park to see her in action.

Houston, Texas was completely different from what it was in the early 2000's. The whole world was. The arrival of scubs, and the energy they brought with them called "Trapar"(transparent light particles) solved practically all energy problems on earth. Scubs could be found everywhere now. From New York, to Paris, to New Delhi, to Beijing. There were even scubs in places like

Nairobi Africa. A half a century ago, in the bay outside of Galveston, Texas, a particularly large scub landed. Giving houston one of the largest trapar counts in the United States. Houston was quick to take advantage of it. Within 10 years houston had installed a trapar factory fashioned after those made in Japan China and so on, and was harnessing a ridiculous amount of energy.

Enough to power all of Texas and 5 other states. And due to the general abundance in trapar, galveston and houston became Fp leaders of the world.

In 2032 a young young man by the name of Ao Fukai developed and sold the first ref board "reflection board" to an Fp company in Iwato Jima, Japan. The board, which used trapar waves the propel itself much like an Fp does, was an instant success. In only a matter of a few years people all around the world of all ages were riding ref boards. Practically overnight, ref boarding became the biggest thing since the commercial fp and commercial computer AI. Ao, who wrote the manual on ref boarding, or what he dubbed lifting, was in turn named the grandfather of ref and became the icon of millions.

The Jaynes borrow Park was the largest lifting park in Houston, Texas. It was famous for its remodel landscape. Payed for by the city. There you could find feilds, artificial hills, cliffs, tunnels, dugout half pipe trails that went 10 to 12 feet deep. It was lifting paradise. It was also huge. A whopping 7 acres of pure lifting territory, although 90% of that was the massive trapar field

the park boasted. The best thing about it was that it was completely free. The previous mayor had built it as a tourist attraction 34 years ago for the young people of the 2050's, the generation that took to lifting like fire did to dry grass. His dad was apart of that generation. Picking up his first ref board at the age of 12, much later then Dan. Who learned at the age of 5. A fact that

Dan liked to pull out often when he and his father would get into arguments over lifting.

Dan and cindy were currently in an argument over lifting dealing in the department of lifting safety. Jon had flipped his headphones out into speaker mode, and was playing more lifting music.

"All I'm saying is that you should be more careful with how you eat before you lift. It's dangerous"

"And all I'm saying is that I've been lifting since I was in diapers and I haven't once had problems with eating and lifting"

"That dosnt mean that you won't have any problems ever"

She sighed throwing up her hands.

"Dan, I'd I worried about all the problems I was ever going to have ever. Then I would be constantly worrying about every

problem I'd ever have."

Dan stared at her for a second, mind blocked by how stupid she sounded.

"Besides I have a strong stomach l, one burrito isn't going to do a thing."

Dan put his hands in his jacket, and shrugged his shoulders. "Your fault if you get sick and fall off your board. I'm not gonna say I told you so, but I'm not gonna carry you to the hospital either."

"Fall off my board? Nobody here has fallen off more times than you Danny boy."

"She's right" Jon said apathetically from the sidelines.

"You remember last week when you wiped out in front of Greyson, and his goons?"

She giggled wildly. Dan blushed, and shoved his hands deeper pockets.

"Thanks for reminding me. I had almost forgotten" He grunted.

A few weeks earlier, he had been lifting and hit a rough patch of trapar, and come off his board while several feet in the air. He landed hard on the ground a slid about eight feet, but came out with only a few cuts and bruises. He still had healing scabs on his calf and elbow. It had been his first fall in a while, and was right in front of Greyson and his gang. Definitely in the top ten most embarrassing moments of his life. He never should have told Jon and cindy it happened.

Cindy was still laughing.

"That's OK. Because today. I'm pulling off the Armoney jist. Right in front of Bethany"

Jon looked over grinning. Cindy laughed harder than she was befor.

"Laugh all you want you dwarf, it's gonna happen. I can feel it in the wind."

Jon offered his hand for a fist bump. "Good luck man, I can give you tips if you want."

Dan took that hand bump and locking the fist tight, assuredly. "No thanks man, I've already gotten word from the old man, that tips arnt supposed to help with the gist. It's supposed to be straight spirit."

Jon shook his head, still smiling. "You Armoney's man, you're weird. That's for sure. Weird and stubborn."

Jon had already done the Armoney gist numerous times and was practically the local expert on the trick. Nobody had seen him do it the first time, making his stunt a tall tail. But after practice he was able to do the gist on the spot.

According to him the trick was easy. He explained the gist was as simple as pressing down on the back end of your board and lifting the front slightly right when your board hits a thick spot of trapar. He had done it for Dan countless times but Dan had never been able to complete the move himself. He had been practiced the move since his dad taught it to him what seemed like ages ago, and he felt his moment of triumph was near.

Cindy stopped laughing and slapped Jon and Dan on their shoulders. "Well Guys, pull your shorts up, cause it's time to fly"


	3. Chapter 3

Jon and Dan looked up to see the vast carved landscaping of Jaynesborrow park. The air was swimming with clouds of lifters, all moving this way and that, giving the feeling that they had just stepped into some great tropical reef under the ocean.

A gentle breeze swept in from the sky and welcomed the three to the was grinning from ear to ear again, watching the lifters with vibrant eyes.

"Cmon" He said, "Let's get down to the launch strip, the sooner we get up into the air, the sooner we'll find Bethany."

The three of them took the front gate stairs down to the launch strips below.

The Jaynesborrough park launch zone was an area designed to allow lifters to lift off into the air without having to drop off a cliff just to catch some trapar. The zone included two trapar strips, with lift ramps at the end. At the start of the strips there was a trapar pump installed that flowed trapar taken in from the park down the strip at a steady constant pace. Dan had personally discovered a glitch in one of the trapar pumps that caused it to release heavy amounts of trapar during random intervals. This wave of extra trapar served as a jet boost from right off the strip. It was honestly an exciting thing. Ever since this discovery, the three of the kids had never launched off of the strip without using this secret boost.

After several games of rock-paper-scissors it was decided that cindy would go first.

"See you jokers in the air" She said jumping on her Jollydrifter and onto the strips glitch trapar wave flooding the platform with trapar. Cindy shot forward, riding the strip right on to the end of the platform and bursting off of the ramp with a geyser of sparkling green energy behind her. Dan could tell she hit her pulser directly after coming off the ramp by the speed of her jump. She swung around and started weaving back and forth waiting for Jon and Dan.

Jon was next. He calmly clamped his earphones down over his head, and fiddled with his mp3 player most likely looking for the his favorite launch song. After a minute he looked up giving a muted salute to Dan and stepped up to the ramp.

Jon had a Twintail 66, which was one of the tightest v-scale boards that they had available in affordable stock. Often times Dan would give Jon's success at lifting to the fact that he has such a capable board. This was untrue of course. Jon had already borrowed his board to prove this accusation false. But Dan still liked to give the board most of the credit. It made him feel better.

Jon slid onto his board and out onto the strip in one smooth motion his board creating the v-scale signature split trapar tail. He had used the same boost that that they all used, but somehow it always seemed like he came off the ramp faster. Dan silently wished that someday his lifting would be as smooth and skilled as Jon's.

And then it was Dan's turn. He grasped his tightly "Airbrush" in his hands and started looking for the tiny discrimination in the trapar flowing down the strip. It only took a moment. As soon as the pump let off the extra wave of trapar Dan jumped on the strip, whipping his board into place underneath him. He landed hard on the strip, his ankles instantly taking in his weight and distributing it across his board balancing him. The trapar wave was directly underneath

him and reflected intensely against his board's shiny scale hurling Dan forward over a flaming stream of technicolor. Heart beating wildly, Wind howled in his ears, stinging his eyes as Dan accelerated. Coming up on the ramp he bent down into a squat and positioned his feet. The board tilted, gained weight, and the jetted off the launch strip ramp at full speed propelling Dan 20 to 30 feet into the air. There was about 3 seconds of hang time in which dan felt completely opposed to gravity before his board found trapar again.

Only a moment later the three of them were surfing the trapar ramps each in their own particular style. All in a line, they navigated the park's numerous ramps half-pipes, and dropoffs.

Jon took the lead, moving with fierce speed and precision, busting off tricks with the ease of a child playing hopscotch. The sidewinded swerve, The Coinflip, the double coin flip, the perpetual leftie. Jon had mastered all the simple beginners tricks, most of the intermediate, and a good amount of even expert level tricks. And he performed these tricks with the talent and grace of a professional whilst jamming out to his favorite bands.

Cindy had the rear, cruising on her jolly drifter at a steady slow pace. This was just what she preferred to do. Cindy had never been impressed by fancy flips and tricks, and she certainly wasn't ever the type to want to make an impression herself. It wasn't that she didn't know how to do any tricks. She knew how to do just about as many as Dan did, and could do a few select tricks better than Jon. But Cindy preferred simplicity in lifting. She was perfectly content standing tall, leaning back on her board, and letting the trapar carry her forward lazily. And that's what she did. Namely when they came to the lift park.

Dan was interested only in doing as many tricks as he could, as well as he could. Coming up a halfpipe Dan pushed down on his Airbrush at the top of the wall propelling him into the air a several feet. Crouching down onto his board Dan hung his arms to below his board; a monkey bar. Coming back down a caught the halfpipes trapar again and went up the other side. This time instead of jumping he shifted his weight to his front foot and brought his board to a standstill

at the top of the halfpipe balancing one end there; The toe jammer. From his balanced stance, Dan shifted his weight again and did a spinning jump with his hands out back out onto the halfpipe; a spinning wizard. Dan came back down and this time reached back with his foot and hit his pulsar. One pulse, Two pulse, Three, Four. Dan blasted up the halfpipe and jumped up ripping his boarding shoes from his airbrush coming 4 to 5 inches off his board before planting his feet back to his board and caught the ramp; an Upsie-daisy.

Dan grinned fiendishly as he came back down from the last jump. He had gotten some air, he was definitely on his lifting game today. Hitting his pulsar again he prepared for another jump, this one bigger than the last. He beat his boards wings again and was thrown into the air, this time

higher than all the times befor. Dan laughed aloud in response to the utter exhilaration of the lift. It was great. This feeling he had in his chest right now was unlike any other. Maneuvering this way and that, coming up a ramp, and then descending. He could feel his heart with every move he made. Every brace, every kick, every twist he made was a work of pure heart rising forth from some deep fountain in the depths of his soul. Every time he landed a trick, he was drinking in the finest feeling of accomplishment the world had to offer. Today was special. That much was certain.

The Friends took a break about two hours into lifting around the mini clubhouse located in the middle of the park. Jon and Cindy sat on one of the clubhouse benches drinking sports drinks while Dan went on about how many great tricks he had just pulled off.

"That was amazing!" Dan ranted, pacing back and forth in front of the other two. "Did you guys see me out there? I was lifting like a professional! Back-handed potato peeler, a criss cross applesauce, a flying betsie! I was busting them off like Tyler Richingham! I couldn't go wrong."

Cindy eyed him from the bench with a relaxed gaze. "You were alright" She said dismissively "But i still didn't see the Armoney Gist you said you were going to do."

Dan winced at the remark.

"Cindy, the Armoney Gist is a expert level move. You can't just bust it out whenever you want to."

"Jon can."

"Jons different, he mastered the move already. I havn't even done the move right once so far."

"And even though i mastered it, whether it can be done or not is completely conditional." Jon said from the other side of the bench "The trapar has to be

just right for the Gist, and on top of that you have to be completely ready for when it is. It's a difficult trick."

"You see! It's *difficult*."

Dan knew he could do the Gist. The last time he had been practicing it he had actually done the move, technically at least. It took some time, but eventually he had done the Coinflip, leading into the standing spinning wizard. That was technically the Armoney Jist. But the spinning in the move was supposed to look delayed, almost like somebody had slowed down time around you to do the trick. Dan had failed in that last part of the trick so as far as he was concerned ,

he hadn't done the trick at all. But this time he was sure he could do it. With the way he felt right now, he could do anything.


	4. Chapter 4

"How bout we get back to it guys?"

"fine with me, what did you wanna do next?" Cindy asked.

"How bout we go to the super bowl?" Jon suggested as he grabbed his board from the ground.

"Yeeesss!" Dan exclaimed hopping up and down enthusiasm.

The super bowl was on the western half of the park. A 400 square foot, empty pool of hard concrete that dipped 6 feet into the ground. It was Dan's favorite part of the park. Within a few minutes they were all at it again, cutting up the trapar in their own particular styles. This time even Cindy was busting off her own moves. With her Jolly Drifter, she swam from side to side her trapar trail tailing her. She swung her board around horizontally and grinded on the trapar with the back end of the board. This was something called a banana peel. She peeled for 3 feet, and then popped up into the air, spun around and landed back into a vertical stance. Watching her reminded Dan that at times she could be just as smooth and skilled as Jon. Jon rode near the middle of the bowl practicing a move he had been working on that he had named "The million dollar deal". It was a complicated flip move that was a version of the double coinflip. You could always tell when Jon was practicing it, because that was when he would fall off his board the most. Today though he hadn't fallen off once. Dan was practicing the coinflip and trying to get a feel for the trapar inside the bowl. It was when Dan was coming up the side of the bowl that he almost ran into another lifter. To avoid being hit he swerved his board, before jumping off it, onto the payment above the bowl. Dan looked around to chew out the idiot who had almost knocked him out, and his anger immediately changed to flustered embarrassment. Standing in front of him, brushing her beautiful blonde hair back behind her ear looking like an Angel sent down from lifting heaven, was Betheny Tidywell holding her Kilowatt 500. His stomach did somersaults, and his heart started running a mile a minute. He didn't know what to say. He was lost for words, hopelessly lost, all he could do was stare.

And then she threw an empty coke bottle at his head.

"oh my gosh" he said ducking and narrowly dodging the projectile.

"what's your problem dude, are you blind?!" She bellowed waving her arms at Dan angrily.

Dan straightened himself up in utter disbelief he was being blamed.

"What? Me? I had already been coming up side when you blasted in like a maniac!"

"Well you almost gave me a concussion ya friggen cheesehead"

At this comment Dan couldn't help but burst out in uncontrollable laughter. "Cheesehead?! haha haha. What is that? What is a Cheesehead? ohahaha"

Bethany scrunched her face up in thought as she studied Dan more closely. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked.

Dan quelled his laughter, and straightened himself up again. "We go to the same school together" He replied, winded from his laughter.

"Oh that's right, your name is Don?"

"Dan. My name is Dan. How do you not know my name? We've been in the same classes since third grade."

"Well soorry I don't know the name to every face I go to school with. You know you should apologize for almost killing me."

Dan sighed, and shook his head. Outwardly he displayed a annoyed disposition, but inwardly he was absolutely bubbles about talking face to face with the girl of his dreams.

"I was coming up the bowl first, you came in after. If there was anyone to blamed for almost giving you a concussion it would be you."

Bethany stared for awhile, and then turned her back on Dan making a clicking sound with her mouth. "You might be right. at least a little. I just got this new board from my uncle and I haven't gotten used to it yet". She said, examining her boards glittering shiny scale.

It's not my fault, good, Dan thought to himself with relief. "Is that the new kilowatt 5000?" He asked.

Betheny turned back around and held up her board. "what this?Yeh it's the kilowatt. My Uncle got it for me for my birthday last week."

Dan stepped closer to get a better look. The board was a little prettier than your average ref board. Sky blue on the sides with a white stripe running down the middle. Yellow thunderbolts ran all through the blue paint near the back end of the board. In the middle over two opposing yellow thunderbolts read "Kilowatt 5000" in bold black lettering.

"Wooow, It looks great!" Dan said admiring the sleek design that seemed to ooze performance. "I wish my dad would let me get a super, I would be instant professional"

Bethany laughed"Hahaha I don't think having a kilowatt would make you a professional"

"Can I hold it?" Dan asked like a kid asking to touch some almighty instrument.

"Of course"

Betheny handed him the board. Dan took it carefully, as if he was handling a priceless artifact. It felt in his hands even better than it appeared to his eyes. He could tell it's plexer-plastic was super high grade like all supers, and the balance on the board was perfect. Dan turned it over and admired the modified shiny scale on the back of the board with sparkled like a million metallic diamonds.

Looking up from the dazzling shiny scale Dan found himself almost nose to nose with Bethany. His heart rate rose dramatically and he could almost feel his entire face going bright red. He quickly handed the board back, and took a couple of steps away from her.

"Why won't your Dad allow you to get a super?" She asked interposing before he could feel any more embarrassed than he already was.

Dan sighed inwardly before replying.

"My Dad thinks that lifters should rely on the lifting in their souls instead of the scales on their boards. He thinks supers ruin the sportsmanship of lifting."

"Well that's a interesting way of looking at your Dad lift?"

"Yeh, he used to be a professional lifter. Now he owns a couple lift stores around here."

Betheny looked astounded. "Your dad was a professional lifter? What's his name?"

"Jason Armoney."

"Oh my gosh! I know him! Didn't he win the lifting games like five times?"

"four times"

"That's friggen cool! I think i've seen a video of him lifting once in a competition. He did this one move and i was like, 'wow, how did he do that?'"

"Yeh my Old man has a few smooth moves."

"and you're his son! I can't believe it man. you're sooo lucky"

Dan had been hearing this for his entire life. Everyone that learned who his dad was would always have the same reaction. It always began with utter surprise, and ended with them asking for a autograph. Dan prepared for the inevitable ending of the conversation. But instead she turned to him and asked him. "So could you show me some of your moves?"


	5. Chapter 5

"some of my moves?" Dan was beyond flattered. Not only did The Betheny Tidywell not treat him like the nobody son of somebody, but she actually wanted to see what he could do himself. Dan shrugged and tried his hardest to look nonchalant about it. "Sure, i can show you some stuff." He slowly walked up to the side of the bowl with his airbrush in hand.

Dan burst down the side of the bowl, gaining as much speed and momentum as a possibly could. Six feet into the bowl, he did a ultraquick coinflip followed by a few presses from his pulsar to gain speed. Flying forward he hopped his board from right to left on the trapar giving him the appearance of bouncing back and forth, a move called chopsticks, that was one of the few expert level tricks Dan had mastered.

Coming up the the platform Dan pulled a double coinflip, and instead of coming back down normally. He landed neatly on the side of the bowl with the backend of his board. From there he jumped up, spun his board a full rotation before catching it again with his feet and riding the board down into the bowl. Betheny was sitting on the edge of the bowl, slow clapping for Dan's performance.

Dan's attention however was on a lifter, coming in the adjacent direction of Dan who seemed to be pulsing on his widebutt. Dan quickly measured the angle the lifter was coming at and adjusted his own direction. He pressed his pulsar just once, giving him just enough speed to make it in time.

Just as the widebutt lifter sailed past Bethany, Dan swooped in. He performed a lofty coinflip jumping at least two whole feet into the air, and landed gracefully on the trapar trail left by the widebutt. In a moment that seemed as if time itself had slowed down around him, Dan began to spin. Slowly, with his arms loose and hanging, and his eyes staring straight ahead calmly, he revolved in front of Betheny. He spun like this for several rotations before he brought his arms back in, and spun fast topping it all off with another quick coinflip.

Dan was smiling when he returned to Betheny on the pavement above the bowl.

"That was it!" she cried. "That was the move i saw your Dad do! Except you did it all.. All.." She struggled with the words to describe.

"Different?" Dan offered.

"Awesome! That was awesome!"

"Yeh, well it felt pretty awesome" He said still smiling. He had finally done the move that he had been trying to do for ages. The move that had been created by his father. And not only had he done it, but he had done it right in front of Betheny. Cindy's burrito eating face wasn't going to be able to say jack-squat about his lifting for a whole month, maybe longer.

Just then, the devil in question rode up to them on her ref board, popping up besides Dan looking extremely tired. Jon arrived just a moment later.

"Are you ready to go yet?" She asked, irritation ringing clearly in her voice.

"What's the matter?" Dan replied, "I thought we were going to stay till sundown?"

"I have a stomach ache, and my show is coming on in an hour, Hi Betheny."

Betheny waved and smiled beautifully.

"I'm ready to go too man, I have a test tomorrow that i still have to study for."

Jon added.

"Ahhh…" Dan was stumped for a moment, looking at Jon and Cindy and then back at Betheny.

"I kinda wanted to hang around here alittle more" he said finally.

"Alright, suit yourself, see you later loser" Cindy said, turning and walking away.

Jon came up and gave Dan the secret fistbump. "See you tomorrow at school man, and.." he smiled and stole a glance at Betheny over Dans shoulder, "good luck" He said quietly before turning to catch back up with Cindy.

Dan was certainly feeling lucky. He had managed to bump into Betheny, talk to her, and perform the armoney gist. Three things he had been trying to do for ages. As he walked back over to the girl, he wondered if she would want to hang out with him more. They seemed to be getting along just fine, but he didn't know for sure whether or not he was cool enough for a girl like her.

Just as he was about to ask if she wanted to lift with him, the pack of kids she came with turned up. One of the kids, a popular boy Dan recognized from school shouted out to her. "Yo Betheny! cmon! We're going to Frank's house to play some pool"

Dan's heart immediately sank. A girl like her had better things to do than hang around with a trapar punk like Dan. He should have known this was how it would turn out. But Betheny surprised him again. "Ugh" she growled. "we always go over to franks to play pool". She complained aloud. She turned and looked at Dan, who gave her a half smile in return. The words she shouted back to them sounded like the bells to heaven ringing in Dan's ears.

"you guy's go ahead! I'm gonna stay here and lift some more!"

"Your not going to leave with your friends?" Dan asked confused.

"Nah, those guys are so lame. All they ever want to do is play pool and talk about people behind their backs." She listlessly kicked the same empty coke bottle that she had thrown at Dan's head. "To tell the truth, they really aren't even my friends. I just talk to them cause they talk to me."

Dan had no idea. This whole time he had thought Betheny was a popularity queen. A diva that would only fraternize with those of her own kind. She actually seemed to be sort of true, down to earth.

"So, like I said I'm still getting used to this board and i don't really like lifting alone even on my usual board sooo... "

She left him hanging and he caught her drift. Dan smiled widely, "are you asking if i'll lift with you?" he said half amused that she was the one to ask.

"Sorta"

"If course i will." after all, somebody has to keep an eye on you and make sure you dont give anybody a concussion."

She laughed, and Dan giggled. A wind blew out from the sky and ran through them both, causing the empty coke bottle to roll away.

"Well where was it that you wanted to lift? We could do it here, or go somewhere else"

Betheny thought about it for a moment staring at the park around her, and then suddenly shouted and did a little hop.

"Oo, how bout the trapar field? I haven't been there yet and i'm dying to get some air with this thing!" She said patting her Kilowatt 500 on its bottom.

"That sounds perfect. Let's do it!" Dan excitedly. He could hardly imagine a better way to ending the day than lifting with Betheny out in the open air.

They set off together side by side towards the trapar field, making idle conversation about this and that along the way. By the time they got to where they were going Dan already felt as if Betheny had become a good friend.

They stopped when they got to the trapar field, the giant field that made up most of Jaynesburrow. The field held an abundance of trapar that allowed lifters to lift freely in a wide open air space. Over the fields grounds you could see hundreds of lifters, all lifting with trapar trails flowing underneath their boards. The singular tailed Straight lines, twin tailed V-Scales, enormous Widebutt trails, and the brilliantly sparkling trail of Supers all weaved in and out of each other creating a giant dancing web of neon light.

(que the eureka seven theme song ~nijii~)

"Are you ready?" Dan asked probingly.

"I've been ready" She shot back vivaciously, and then without warning took off running. "last one in the air is a cheesedog!" Dan took off after her.

They both ran out onto the field, feet thumping along the grass in beat with each other. Jumping on their boards in near unison, they took off, two tails igniting as they hit their boards.

They started at only a foot above the ground, but escalated rapidly into the air. Soon they were 30 to 40 feet in the air weaving in and out of each other like a pair of traparian eagles.

Dan had never been so happy in his life. His spirit had never soared this high. How could any kid be deserving of the way he felt right now? His dream coming true right in front of his eyes? One thing was for sure. This truly was a great lift.


End file.
